Colors of Blood
by Firey Chronicles
Summary: AU. FujiRyo. Vampirism. He would do almost anything to escape from the clutches of that damn smiling vampire. The author of Achromatic Colors presents Colors of Blood, a story in a world where vampires rule the darkness. !on hold!
1. Fuchsia

The author of Achromatic Colors presents Colors of Blood, a story in a world where vampires rules the darkness.

**Pairing: **Thrill pair

**Warning:** Vampirism

**Disclamation**: I don't own Prince of Tennis. (Why do everyone bother to say it anyway?) Definitions are provided from and Wikipedia (the most trusted source in the world XDDD).

**Summary**: AU. FujiRyo. Vampirism. He would do almost anything to escape from the clutches of that damn smiling vampire.

The title is a misnomer. It's actually more like colors of red than colors of blood but I don't want to make it Colors of Red because blood sounds cooler for a vampire fic.

* * *

**Colors of Blood**

Colors of blood are colors of red. Fuchsia; a shade of red. A bright purplish red color.

**Fuch-sia****fyoo**-sh_uh_

**–noun**

1. a plant belonging to the genus _Fuchsia,_ of the evening primrose family, including many varieties cultivated for their handsome drooping flowers.

2. Also called California fuchsia. a nonwoody shrub, _Zauschneria californica,_ having large crimson flowers.

3. a bright, purplish-red color.

**–adjective**

4. of the color fuchsia: a fuchsia dress.

**–lexicography**

5. A beautiful, attractive woman is known as a _fuchsia queen_.

(_Rodgers, Bruce Gay Talk: The Queen's Vernacular--A Dictionary of Gay Slang. New York:1972--Paragon Books, G.P. Putnam's Sons Page 87)_

**I. Fuchsia**

The world was drowning in darkness. The clouds blocked what little light the moon and stars had to offer and the winds were too weak to blow it away.

Not a sound could be heard in this deafening silence; not a hoot of the owl, not a rustle from a single blade of grass stroked by the wind. It seemed as if the world itself was afraid to make noise, afraid to attract the attention of an unseen enemy. Not a sound of the living can be heard -- save for the noise made by a human boy.

The panting of his breathing sounded deafening in the absolute silence of the darkness. He tore through the silence with the sounds of his heels hitting against the hard earth. He felt like his own heart is going to burst from his chest. His golden eyes squinted to see the road ahead in the moonless night. Every inch of his body was sore from running. A single thought rang through his mind. '_Is he still following me?'_

He dashed through the outskirts of the farmland. He knew that screaming for help would be useless. Even though he can see small houses lighted with candles, nobody will let him take refuge here. They will all be frightened. He didn't blame them. No human dares to face a vampire in a crowd less than a dozen. "It's suicide"; at least that's what he has been told by others. And certainly no one would help a person who is chased by one unless they didn't believe in those creatures.

At any rate, the wind was on his side. The wind whisked away whatever heat his body couldn't bare. The freezing temperature of the late autumn night prevented him from over heating. If the situation was not life threatening, he would have laughed. How did he manage to sleep in freezing conditions such as this without waking up?

Looking back, he can vaguely see the path he just came from. There was no one there. At that moment, his left foot hit a small rock and he tripped. _Thud_. The body felt the sting with the contact of the ground.

'_Oh no_.' Both of his palms and left knee were scraped. He couldn't see it but the pain was real enough. They were _bleeding_. Several seconds passed as he lay there. During that time, he forced himself to inhale the freezing air into his lungs; enough to satisfy his body.

_Click_._…_

_Click_._…_

_Click_.…

_'That bastard_.' If the boy could pause from gulping mouthfuls of air into his lungs, he would have growled. No matter how fast he ran, he could still hear the slow, steady rhythm of that man's boots from way behind. It didn't matter if he dashed, ran, or jogged. The footsteps were always there in that same slow steady rhythm. There was some supernatural force behind this illogical movement. The footfalls will get louder though, whenever he slowed himself to a light jog.

Ryoma grimaced. That smiling vampire was taunting him.

Why else would the vampire tail him like that? He has been following him for several hours now. The vampire had no need to wait for him to tire out. It's not like the boy can defend himself. He was merely a twelve year old child. A human. A prey.

Ignoring the pain, he dragged his sore body up and began sprinting again. He must get away. There was a very small chance of hope that he might escaped. He knows that the vampire will strike before he even gets near the town. But, he has to try.

Partly due to his stubborn nature, there are very little actions in life Ryoma ever regret doing. But now, he dearly regretted ignoring the cautions of his missing parents. He has been told to never venture alone and to never stay outside after dark. He did both today; one by force and the other by carelessness.

The disappearance of his parents has happened more than two years ago. One day, they just vanished; never to be seen again. Not even their 'corpses' were found. The townspeople gossiped that his parents were killed by vampires. It didn't matter. His parents were gone. He barely remembers their faces anymore.

Life is tough for someone being born in a poor farmer's family during 17th century France. The small piece of land, all that his family had left for him, was confiscated by his lord because of his inability to pay his dues. That greedy noble kept him as a messenger boy; a job considered perilous in the age of vampire superstition.

At first, Ryoma thought it was only a superstition. Although his parents had been suspected of being killed by them, he did not fully believe in the existence of vampires. Stories of vampires traveled everywhere. But he thought they were merely stories. He believed the fears for those blood sucking demons were as superstitious as the prosecution of witches in 8th century England.

Apparently not, he discovered, as he is learning it the hard way this moment. If someone had tried to strike a conversation about those blood-sucking creatures, he certainly would have told the person to find something better to do or he would just simply walk away.

He had thought that the whole town was either crazy or too bored with their monotonous farm live. The town would gossip about anything; gossip was their main entertainment. Everyone socialize with each other because of it. In the age where entertainment was unaffordable or unavailable for the working class, gossip was their life. And in the secluded town of Ryoma's homeland, gossip was usually their _only_ form of amusement.

They cherished what little contact they had with the outside world. Traders were awed and respected for their products as much as their stories they brought, which were hung on by every word. Of course, Ryoma believed none of it. From his experience, different merchants told dissimilar stories about these vampires and they would almost always describe different characteristics of the creature. Either the stories were completely factious or there were different kinds of vampires in the world – the former was more likely. At least the stories helped the dealers with their transaction of spiritual charms. Also, it gave the townspeople something to think about. But gossip was gossip.

Ryoma deemed they were too gullible. The townspeople bought those cheap charms and wore them as if it will save their petty lives when they didn't even know vampires actually existed. They took those tales so seriously that the dead were buried with their face facing down so the corpse would dig downwards instead of up just incase they were vampires. Some coffins even had mechanisms that if a corpse tries to get up, their heart would be stabbed by a stake. They are hardly necessary precautions over fictional creatures.

But he never dreamed that actually being chased by a vampire would happen to him. His master told him to deliver a package to the next town fifty kilometers away. _Fifty kilometers on foot_. He won't let him go near the horses anymore ever since that incident. Stupid secluded fiefs. Stupid labor abuser. Not that it bothered Ryoma anyway – _much_. The running kept him fit and the job gave him an excuse to get away from his prison for a whole day. Today, the master forcefully woke him with the task before sunrise and he managed to deliver the 'urgent' package after midday; half running half jogging.

He then made a fatal mistake by choosing to take a nap under a comfy shade underneath a tree by the side of the road for a break on the way back. The next thing he remembered was been rudely woken up by a prodding finger. A young smiling man, the owner of the offending finger, helped him – unnecessarily - to his feet. Few words were exchanged and the man pointed out to the boy that it was already nightfall and it would be dangerous for a little boy to travel alone…especially if vampires could attack him during the night. Ryoma challenged back saying that the creatures were merely stories to scare children.

Just as he was about to leave the man called him back and gave him an open eyed grin. Ryoma wisely bolted as soon as he saw those extended fangs and those predatory eyes. Vampires existed after all. If the stories he heard have a slight truth in them, they had supernatural abilities. He knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself with his bare hands against a vampire. His only solution was to run. Plus he had confidence in his running. A wise but vain choice as it turns out. Vampires had supernatural abilities on covering distances.

…and that brings the story back to the present situation.

Ryoma continued to run for another hour; he is already over his limit but he can't stop. His body had sensed it. If he stops even for one second he would collapse. His mad dash has been sufficiently reduced to a mere slow jog since he had started some time ago – Ryoma had lost track of time. Dehydrated, sore, and in need of oxygen, the boy had carried himself purely by his adrenalin and will to live.

'_Just a few more kilometers…_' He silently pleaded his tired body. For the first time in his life, he actually wanted to be jumping back into the repulsive stone walls of his master. Hopefully the sapphire eyed vampire was merely playing around and would let him escape with a few laughs at Ryoma's expense.

Unfortunately the vampire thought that he had enough fun toying with his food and chose to loose his patience at that moment.

A hand violently grabbed Ryoma on the arm and dragged him off the road. The vampire roughly pushed Ryoma onto a trunk of a tree and trapped him there with his body. One hand brusquely grasped a fistful of Ryoma's hair and the other seized both of his wrists over his head just in case he had the energy to fight back.

Ryoma wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He couldn't stop himself from panting. Now that his rhythm had been interrupted, he could barely keep his eyes open. The only thing keeping him from sagging down was the entrapment between the tree and the vampire.

The vampire was smiling. Ryoma could vaguely see the shape of him and those blue-glowing eyes. The sapphire eyes gave a mocking stare into the golden eyes clouded with fatigue.

His mouth moved. He was addressing something to him but Ryoma could no longer pick up the sound. He was teasing him probably, he guessed, about how vain his efforts were. The man probably realized that he was already half conscious and couldn't fight back. He let go of both of his wrists, gently this time, and placed his hand on the boy's hips instead. Ryoma's hands hung loosely beside his body, not even having the force left to lift it up. Then the man's left hand slowly tilted his head exposing more of that vulnerable flesh.

'_NO! Stop…_' His mind silently screamed.

The brunet slowly lowered his head, all the while exposing his sharp canine teeth.

'_Don't!_' Ryoma clinched his eyes shut.

He could feel the teeth sinking into his neck. A searing pain took over him immediately. His eyes flung open caused by unbearable pain.

'_Help! Someone… anyone…_'

Yet he still couldn't scream, still couldn't utter a sound. A single tear formed on the corner of the golden eye as the boy slowly drifted to unconsciousness. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't push the man off of him. He couldn't even keep his eyes open at the very moment when his life is being drained away.

**_'I'm going to die.'_**

* * *

A/N: Lol, I'm doing another one involving colors. And this one actually has colors within the story other than the title. Too bad the title is a misnomer.

Yes, yes, I will work on Achromatic Colors too.

I chose the title Fuchsia because Ryoma had Fuji chasing him like "A beautiful, attractive woman". XDDDD

So how do you guys like vampires? Did I improve? Did I improve?

**_REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! No review, no update XP_**

Published: 24/01/08

Revised: 06/06/08


	2. Sangria

I updated! Woot! pats myself on the back

* * *

**Colors of Blood**

Colors of blood are colors of red. Sangria; a shade of red. The color of blood.

**_San-grí-a_**sang-**gree**-_uh_;Sp. sahng-**g****r****ee**-ah

–noun

1. An iced drink typically made with red wine, sugar, fruit juice, soda water, and spices, and containing fruit slices.

2. Color that resembles Sangría wine.

3. burnt red

4. The word _sangría_ comes from the Spanish _sangre_ meaning blood.

**II. Sangria**

Wind whisked his auburn hair. It was a windy night. The black cloak fluttered around him but he paid no heed. The temperature was nearly freezing, but he wasn't bothered; after all, vampires could withstand extreme situations.

The weather was so fair during the day but the clouds completely cover the sky by nightfall. The tearing wind was powerless against the heavy ominous cloud. There was next to no light in this darkness. But that was fine since vampires have superb night vision; they are essentially night creatures after all.

He has never been this far south of the country before. Fuji loves exploring. Then again, he loves anything that involves getting away from what he is supposed to do and what people expects from him - but never mind that for now.

He inhales – a hardly necessary exercise for vampires apart from scent detection - and expected the smell of the frosty fresh air of nature. There was no way vampires could find this kind of smell in the human population. It amazes even vampires how humans are foolishly fouling nature. But instead, he caught the scent of a boy. Fuji was surprised.

A boy? At this hour in this wilderness? In this weather?

He was curious and he has nothing better to do; a dangerous combination for Fuji Syuusuke's targets. With his curiosity provoked, he chose to follow his nose. It led him out on to one of the manmade roads. He lifted his eyebrows as soon as he saw a figure hidden among the grass.

The boy was lying on his back under a tree. The grass did cover him from the wind, but it hardly insulated his body. He was wearing a simple rough linen tunic and leggings--which should have been much insufficient in this weather. Although this is Southern France, it wasn't warm enough to sleep in the middle of the night, especially in autumn. Fuji speculated that he must have slept through the day when the weather was nice. Though how a human can sleep in this freezing condition was beyond him. Even most vampires would prefer warmth. Even if they could endure extreme climate, they could still feel uncomfortable in them.

What the devil is this boy doing sleeping in this hour? Slumbering in the middle of a deserted road screams free meal ticket. Fuji wasn't hungry at the moment, but it was too good of an opportunity to let free food pass away. Still, he wasn't sure if he wanted to eat it or not. Vampires don't need to drink blood. They could go years without any food but most drink it anyway because it satisfied their tastes and occasionally their sadistic nature. Blood was extremely easy to come by if they were unprotected by a division of the church – the hunters. He could just literally go to some town and snatch someone off without ever being known. Besides…he had a drink just yesterday.

He knelt beside the sleeping figure but still hasn't decided. So he did what his mother never told him to do; play around with his food a little bit and _then_ decide if he wants to put it into his mouth.

He was bored. He wondered how the boy will react to him. He tentatively held out a finger and poked him several times on the chest. He waited several seconds to see what the boy may do.

He didn't get a reaction. This boy sure is a deep sleeper.

Poke.

Poke.

The boy groaned, turned on his side and curled himself tighter.

Poke. This is kind of fun.

The boy tried to swat the prodding thing away with his eyes closed. Of course, he missed.

Fuji grinned and picked up the rhythm. Poke. Poke. Poke.

Three pokes in rapid concession in different parts of his body forced him to slam his eyes open.

He looked around a bit like a confused kitten. He gazed at the sky with half lidded eyes in distaste and then spotted Fuji. He glared at him sleepily while smothering with a yawn. The sleepiness completely ruined the intensity of the glare – the yawn was a bonus. Fuji thought he looked kind of cute. The boy must have guessed the one who rudely woke him up.

Fuji smiled. "Hello little one, are you lost? It's already dark." He gently inquired.

"I noticed." He hissed softly and rubbed sleep out of his eyes. Fuji helped him up much to his protest.

"What's your name? Where are your parents?" Fuji was amused. He sounded like some child kidnapper – which he is. "I suppose I could take you to them-"

"None of your business." The boy cut him off as dusted his clothing; being rather rude to Fuji. He should be more polite toward someone who kindly offered his help to 'save' him. He seemed to be awake enough by now to start to leave.

"It's dangerous to wander alone in the dark don't you think?"

The boy shrugged. "I can defend myself." Okay, reclusive and antisocial. Fuji was not particularly fond of those characteristics, but he still prefers over clingy annoying types of people.

"Hmm… even against say, a vampire?" He said in a playful tone.

"I'm not scared of some fictional monster to scare children." He quickly replied without even looking at Fuji. The child obviously thought he was teasing.

"Fictional monster?" Fuji was amused now. "Saa… I'm not so sure about that."

The boy instantly froze up. He is a smart child to understand the message so quickly. He turned around to face him slowly almost afraid of what he is going to see. Fuji, for the boy's benefit, revealed his fangs and gave him an open eyed smile – a smile he knew that could intimidate even his fellow vampires. He hammered home. Bewildered wide eyes stared at him for a moment and wisely turned around and bolted immediately.

Fuji chuckled. Smart move, but how long can the boy keep it up? He was fast for a human, but not nearly fast enough to outrun a vampire. He gave a sinister smile. He decided to taunt him a little.

Fuji started to follow.

_Click_._…_

_Click_._…_

_Click_.…

The sound of his boots echoed on the solid ground.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He was amazed that the boy could sprint like that for several hours. Though his pace had slowed considerably, it still is incredible that a mere human could continue running like that for such a long time. But he doesn't look like he could go on for much longer. He is panting hard.

He could see the boy turning around to check on him once in a while though he doubted that he could see him. Fuji was following from a way back. He gave credit for the boy's night vision to be able to make out his way in this darkness, but he doubted it was as good as a vampire's.

The boy tripped. Carried by the wind, the sweet smell of blood hit Fuji's face. Fuji stopped and clinched his fists. He had to still himself. It took all his will power to not loose his self control and leap at the boy that very moment. The lull of his blood was intoxicating. Even if Fuji was fooling around up till now, the boy was certainly not going to escape now. His appetite had been worked up. He sensed insecurity from the boy as he saw him stare at his scraped hand for a moment. The boy knew of this as well.

He lay on the ground for several moments just gulping in oxygen. He seemed unable to get up. Is it over? Fuji stepped closer.

The child flinched at the sound of his boots. He gritted his teeth, forcefully dragged himself up and began running again. Fuji didn't know if he should feel amused or disappointed – amused by the boy's resistance and disappointed at having his meal delayed.

The boy continued on for an hour more. If he wanted to strike, he had better do it now. Fuji can smell human population up ahead – a town probably. Though it's not too difficult, it would be much more complicated to assault him with many people around especially if they are aware of a vampire's presence. He can't even drink peacefully under those circumstances. Besides, he really cannot wait any longer.

He caught up to him in less than a second and he violently grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him off the mud beaten road. He roughly pushed him onto a trunk of a tree and trapped him there with his body. One hand brusquely grasped a fistful of his hair and the other seized both of his wrists over his head just in case he had the energy to fight back.

But it looks like he need not worry. The boy looks like he could barely stop breathing – never mind scream for help. He was panting heavily and his glazed golden eyes gaze at and beyond Fuji at the same time. His cheeks were rosy pink from the running. He could barely keep his eyes open. All of his weight was on Fuji.

Fuji grinned. He looked absolutely adorable. If he didn't know the boy was so exhausted beyond awareness, he would think he was trying to seduce him.

"Saa… you gave quite a run there. I congratulate you on your efforts." Fuji smirked. "But I guess you can't hear me anymore…"

He let go of both of his wrists, gently this time, and placed his hand on the boy's hips instead. The boy's hands hung loosely beside his body, not even having the force left to lift it up. Then Fuji's left hand slowly tilted his head exposing more of that vulnerable flesh.

Fuji slowly lowered his head, all the while exposing his sharp canine teeth. He could see the boy tensing; his breathing quickened even more. The sound was now mixed with a slight note of fright.

As soon as he positioned his teeth properly on the child's neck, he bit down. He could feel his teeth sinking into the tender flesh and purred when delicious hot liquid gushed into his mouth. The boy gasped.

Fuji was pleasantly surprised. God, how can his blood taste so sweet? His scent was so disarming; there was nothing special about his smell that indicates this sweetness until the skin tore when he fell.

As blood was drained from him, the boy's breathing slowed. He lost consciousness.

Fuji was content gulping down the blood. Then a question popped in his head. _Did he want to keep him?_ He's probably not going to find another human with his kind of taste. Plus the boy will amuse him with his resistance – he just knows it. The boy seemed a bit cocky. Taming him would be a bonus. That may entertain him for a while. On the other hand, he doesn't want any more troubles than he does already. In any case, he has to decide fast. If he does want to keep him, he has got to stop before he kills him.

Fuji reluctantly tore his fangs away from the pulsing veins. He gently licked the overflow of blood trailing down onto his collarbone and licked the wound to close it – vampire saliva has strong healing properties. There was no trace of the fresh bite mark left anywhere.

He gently laid the boy's head on his right arm and the other swept his legs off the floor. He carried the boy off in his arms – bridal style.

The clouds cleared enough for the moonlight to shine on the two disappearing shadows in the wilderness.

* * *

Author Note:

XDDD How did you guys like it so far?

I'm keeping the setting France still but I really know too little about the place so I'm going to make up most of the stuff.

I did some reading on Vampires and Vampire stories and I figured out MOST of the storyline I want for Colors of Blood. So Yay the plot revived. Do you guys want me to update Achromatic Colors at the same time or finish one first?

**_I accept multiple votes!! XDDDD _**(I don't think it's going to be a problem since you're allowed one review per 15 seconds ;D. Go anonymous if you want)

AND DON'T FORGET TO **_REVIEW!_**I expect just as many reviews as last chapter!

Published: 10/02/08

Updated: 06/06/08


	3. Burgundy

I'd like to dedicate this post to **Fuji Syuusuke**! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! It's a leap year this year! (Goes and work on AC, hope I make it by my time zone)

* * *

**Colors of Blood**

Colors of blood are colors of red. Burgundy; a shade of red.

**Burgundy****bur**-g_uh_ n-dee

_noun _

1. French, Bourgogne. a region in central France: a former kingdom, duchy, and province.

2. wine, of many varieties, red and white, mostly still, full, and dry, produced in the Burgundy region.

3. (often lowercase ) red wine with similar characteristics made elsewhere.

4. (lowercase ) a grayish red-brown to dark blackish-purple color.

5. Also called Burgundy sauce. a sauce made with red wine and thickened with an espagnole sauce or kneaded butter, served with eggs, meat, fish, or poultry.

–adjective

6. (lowercase ) having the color burgundy.

**III. Burgundy**

…

…

There were voices.

X

He felt something cold touch him.

X

He could hear various conversations but he couldn't make out any words. Any words except one.

"…Ryoma…"

X

"Please take care of him."

Take care of who?

X

"**NO!**" A woman's voice screamed. "**_DON'T TOUCH HIM!_**" The sudden scream jolted him. He felt his own throat tighten. Ryoma couldn't pinpoint it but she vaguely sounded familiar.

Someone was laughing in the background; a maniac laughter. The sound made him shiver.

X

"Da-Dare?" (Who are you?)

Ryoma gasped. The voice sounded more childish, but it was none other than his own.

Although he could see nothing he felt two hands gently cupping his cheeks. "Ryoma, don't you remember me?" He heard a boy's voice. The voice had a tinge of sadness to it.

X

"Impressive. But you've still got a long way to go." A man said.

"No fair." A voice behind him complained. "I wasn't paying attention."

"In our line of business, you can't afford to wander son." He somehow knew that the comment was directed toward the person behind him.

He heard grumbling.

X

He could feel someone lifting up his body. He wanted to push the person away, but his arms felt so – tired. Never had he felt this helpless.

Something warm was tickling down his throat.

Darkness engulfed him.

X

"Ooi!" Someone yelled at him. It sounded distant. "Chibisuke! Pass me the staff!"

"Get it yourself!" Ryoma heard a younger version of himself yell back.

X

"DAD! I CAN FIGHT! LET ME STAY!" He heard himself yell.

"No Ryoma, you are still too young." That's what his father sounds like? He couldn't remember.

"Ryoga is only older than me by three years and he's staying!" Who is Ryoga? "Besides, I'm just as good as him! You said so yourself! And I - I can-"

He heard his father sigh. "Ryoga, take him away."

This time it was another voice who complained. "But dad-"

"No buts! Hurry up! We're running out of time!"

He could feel a force trying to drag him away now. A pair of strong hands circled under his arms.

The darkness clouding his eyes diminished faintly. He was able to see in this world for the first time. He vaguely made out a man standing with his back toward him. A hand was desperately trying to reach toward the man. It was none other than his own hand.

"Dad! DAD!" He screamed. "Aniki! LET ME GO!" Ryoma was surprised at what he heard himself scream.

He had a brother?

X

"Oyaji, stop looking at naked paintings." It was his own voice again.

He could indistinctly see a man grin. He had a pipe hanging from a corner of his mouth. He looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days.

"What are you talking about? This is art!" His finger pointed toward towarda picture that Ryoma in the dream couldn't glimpse.

He heard himself sigh. "Mom will get mad."

X

He could see a crack of light from under the door. From the room beyond, he heard many voices. Was there a party?

"Did you see the way he fought?"

"Nine years old and already the champion-"

"Did you see the move he pulled?"

"His mother came from-"

"Did you know -?"

"The adaptation of the little one is amazing."

"Indeed. The younger -"

"-His blood is -"

"They will grow up to be valuable to us won't they? Especially the son of Nanjirou and Rinko Echizen -" The voices started to fade.

He wanted to hear it. He wanted to know more. But try as he might to cling on to the dream, he didn't hear the rest of it.

Who is his father?

Who is his mother?

_Who is Ryoma?_

X

…

Poke.

Poke.

Ryoma groaned and curled himself tighter.

Poke.

He tried to swat the prodding thing away with his eyes closed. He missed. '_Go away…_'

Poke. Poke. Poke.

Three pokes, in rapid concession, in different parts of his body forced him to slam his eyes open.

The scene he saw wasn't the one he was subconsciously expecting.

Blood; there was blood everywhere. Blood covered him and his surroundings. Blood was spread across everything on the floor: some in splatters and some in puddles. Blood was dripping down the walls. Blood covered his hands and soaked into the fabrics of his clothing. He could feel the blood saturated clothes pressing and rubbing against his skin.

He screamed, and screamed, and screamed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**When he woke up several days later, he remembered none of those dreams.**

* * *

Author Notes:

Fuji wasn't actually featured in this chapter at all… let's just say he's on vacation for his birthday.

Well? What do you think? This is Ryoma's dream arc. This chapter probably was too short and did not make much sense to most of you but this ranting has a purpose. It represented Ryoma's drift between consciousness and dream like a drunkard due to his mass blood loss. As each section gets longer Ryoma becomes more awake. And this is where the chapter title comes from.

If you're still unhappy, I'm sorry, next chapter will be more exciting.

From the numerous votes I got, most people prefer that I have both stories going on at the same time. A few readers specified that I should update them at the same time. But from the reception I'm getting from the review count, I'm not sure if you guys want this story as much at all. I got more than double the number for Achromatic Colors. So let's try harder this time ne? (25 is still very good though! Thanks for all your support!)

**Don't forget to review!!** (Just clicky that little button on the bottom, yes you know you want to because stories aren't going to update by itself – or adding me to alerts) Cuz unlike before chapter four is almost ready to be posted. Even though it's short it still deserves **_reviews_** ne?

Published: 29/02/08 **HAPPY BIRTHDAY FUJI!**

Revised: 06/06/08


	4. Vermilion

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Ms.** Sakura Moon**! My awesome editor! She goes over all of my Prince of Tennis fics: Achromatic Colors, Colors of Blood, and First Dawn!

Thanks a lot Sakura-san!

Firey

* * *

**Colors of Blood**

Colors of blood are colors of red. Vermilion; a shade of red.

**Ver-mil-ion** (_ver-mil-yuhn)_

–noun

1. a brilliant scarlet red.

2. a bright-red, water-insoluble pigment consisting of mercuric sulfide, once obtained from cinnabar, now usually produced by the reaction of mercury and sulfur.

–adjective

3. of the color vermilion.

–verb (used with object)

4. to color with or as if with vermilion.

Vermilion, sometimes misspelled vermillion, when found naturally-occurring, is an opaque orangish red pigment, used since antiquity, originally derived from the powdered mineral cinnabar. Chemically the pigment is mercuric sulfide, HgS. Like all mercury compounds, it is toxic. As pure sources of cinnabar are rare, natural vermilion has always been extremely expensive. In the Middle Ages, vermilion was often as expensive as gilding. As of 2007 a 40 ml tube of genuine Chinese Vermilion oil paint can cost £51 (US 100) (Wikipedia)

**IV. Vermilion**

…

He felt so…tired.

Ryoma was convinced that his eyelids must weigh at least a ton. He groaned. Every inch of his body experienced soreness. He felt like a limp lifeless doll; unable to move from wherever they were left lying around by a careless child. There was not a drop of strength left within him. What 

did he do yesterday to be this tired? Even the weight of paper-thin sheets covering his body felt like a permanent mold, holding him perfectly still. He tried to move his arms, but they must have gotten lead injected into them. Ryoma couldn't even feel his legs. They must have put him on labor again, but he never experienced this much fatigue - then again each time always feels worse than the last.

Sapphire eyes flashed through his mind. The events of that horrifying night came back in blurry flashes. His hand unconsciously flew toward his neck. He found nothing. The encounter was so blurry now that he could barely recall any detail – like a dream.

'_It was a dream after all._'

Ryoma relaxed. He tried to shift his position and slid on some sort of soft fabric. He froze.

'_What the-_'

Ryoma attempted to lift his head and immediately regretted it. He experienced a massive headache; he felt as if he was the huge bell on the towering church buildings where the bell ringer pounds on the poor metal frame with a huge wooden hammer at a never-ending, constant beat. After it faded enough to let him think anything other than the hammering, he shifted more carefully this time to look around his surroundings; the heaviness of the eyelids temporarily forgotten.

The first thing he saw was the fabric he was lying on. He failed to recognize the soft materials at first glance. Then he realized his hand was sliding on _silk_.

Corn yellow silken sheets covered the bed. The translucent amber curtains drawn up against the mahogany posts – one of the most expensive woods around the market - were thin sheets of silk. Much to his horror, he saw that his left hand was surrounded in a clean white silken sleeve. At any moment, he believed that he would just wake up in a familiar setting in the stables from the shock.

Silk was so expensive that a sheet like this would cost a farmer's wage for an entire year. Because of such costliness, it is only used by the nobles. If he didn't felt clean, he would have been even more horror-struck by the ruination of the expensive sheets. No noble would let the likes of him go near such material, so why is he surrounded by it?

His curiosity made him look around the room. The four-poster bed he was lying on had fine grape vine patterns engraved into the reddish wood. Carvings of vine could be seen climbing on the four posts.

'_Where am I?_'

He could tell it was during the day as light seeped through the satin curtains. Fire cracked softly in the fine marble framed fireplace. _Sandalwood_, he sniffed. Material wealth was one thing, but he never liked the idea of burning of good money.

The room itself was rather peculiar. As far as he could tell, it was in a long rectangular shape with two doors on the right; the closer one probably goes into a walk in closet since there were no wardrobes. Lengthy pine green satin curtains draped all the way down to the floor from the ceiling on the left, directly opposite of the doors – now he was wandering if he would see anything _other_ than silk.

The walls directly in front of him and behind the bed were wallpapered with a silver tree branch pattern on the fern green background. The walls on the two sides however, were painted yellow green. How peculiar. He was sure this was deliberate and not because they ran out of wallpapers.

A cherry wood desk and a matching chair were placed next to the bookshelf. A small comfortable looking reading chair stood in the corner between the curtain and the fireplace. All the furnishings were the finest craftsmanship.

The only ornament of this room was a single painting hung over the fireplace; a painting of a single white daisy. He normally would expect a portrait of some lord glaring down at him, almost as if watching his every move. Ryoma had never heard of anyone doing otherwise.

The lilac floor tiles and a vanity clearly show that this room is intended for a lady.

As strange as the room looks, it seemed pleasant – simple, elegant and screams fortune at the same time. It has none of the over cluttering attempt of show off prosperity. It's too elegant to be a guestroom - unless of course, whoever owns it is bloody rich. The owner probably loves nature - a very abnormal preference during this time.

It even looks better than that noble's master bedroom that he pried into once out of curiosity. But then again the bastard wasn't the most well off nobles.

This room could accommodate at least a family of twenty. Ryoma shook his head. No, he couldn't think from the standpoint of the poor. This room is probably not big enough for a title countess and above, though it is larger than Sasabe's (3).

'_This must be a dream._' He concluded, though he had no idea where this imagination came from.

When the fight or flight response subdued, Ryoma's eyelids started dropping and became once again aware of his battered body. He snuggled into the soft bedspread; letting sleep overtake him. If this was a dream, he might as well enjoy it right?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

His eyes opened slowly. He could still feel the softness at his fingertips and wrapped around his body. He blinked sleepily several times. The light in the somehow looked… different – unnatural even. '_Am I still dreaming?_'

"I see you have woken up."

Ryoma jerked awake. He instinctively rolled off the opposite direction of the voice. Ryoma tried to stand up and pain soared through his muscles. He immediately collapsed. His legs won't take any of his weight at all even when he tried to force himself by biting through the pain. He backed himself against the wall by dragging his body backwards with his arms, as far away as he could from the voice. He instantly spotted a figure sitting in the reading chair. He could feel his heart thumping like a jackrabbit. Ryoma glared, his left hand covered his neck.

A pair of sapphire eyes stared back at him; two eyes filled with amusement, which Ryoma interpreted as mockery. His eyes narrowed. '_It's that damned vampire._' That night wasn't a dream, Ryoma concluded. Though he knew from his current state he wouldn't be able to go very far in this unknown location, he deeply regretted not attempting a getaway while he was alone.

He could see the vampire more clearly with the lamp on the desk giving off an unnatural amount of light. The brunet wore a casual dark green sweater with loose but clean brown track pants. He looked like an adult male in his late teens (1). He also looked rather feminine, especially without the mustache. He probably could pass off as a girl if not for the height (2), flat chest, and the intense eyes.

From his experience with Sasabe and the nobles around the area, Ryoma expected every rich man—with a huge curly wig—wearing a coat with cuffs, heeled shoes with ribbons, and colored stockings. But if the vampire was the owner of this unusual room, he should have anticipated an equally odd fashion.

The brunet could fully pass off as a human. His smile may have even looked disarming, but Ryoma would never forget the predatory eyes and the sharp fangs hidden behind it.

During his mad scramble, the vampire almost certainly had not moved an inch. He probably thought this was amusing. "You've slept for three days straight; I was starting to get worried." The brunet slowly got up from the small reading chair he had previously occupied and put down the book he was reading.

"You shouldn't have run like that. You'll wear yourself out." He walked closer.

He squatted down to be more at an eye level. "My name is Syuusuke Fuji, what's yours?" He hid his eyes in his smile.

Ryoma said nothing. He tried to press himself harder against the wall; his breathing became hitched.

"Hmm, this is not good. We have some communication issue here." Fuji appeared to be thoughtful. "I have to call you something don't I?" He smiled again. Ryoma didn't reply, but the vampire didn't expect him to.

"Saa… how about I call you… Kitten?"

"Kitten?" Ryoma blanched. He looks nothing like a kitten. Isn't that like a pet name?

Fuji smiled. "For a second there I was afraid of you being a mute."

Ryoma glared.

"I took the liberty to… straighten you out a little," Kitten regarded him with a mystified look, then instantly looked away after his eyes widened. Fuji grinned when he saw boy's cheeks flushed a deep shade of red. He appeared to comprehend the context. "You were… not in the best situation when I found you." Fuji grinned deviously.

"Excuse me if I am too impoverished to bathe every day." This time it was Fuji's eyes that opened in surprise. Ryoma looked at anything but the brunet not knowing that it was Fuji's tactic on getting Ryoma to open his mouth. Ryoma still could feel his cheeks burning. He could just imagine the vampire grinning.

"Where am I?" He changed the topic, still looking anywhere but the brunet.

"My house," The vampire sat on the floor to a more comfortable position.

Ryoma gave an exasperated look to the vampire. What else could it be?

"In Province de Champagne-Ardenne, somewhere in the mountains," Fuji recovered his smile. "Third floor. My sister's old room to be more specific. Screaming for help will be completely useless."

Ryoma still had the inquisitive look in his eyes, but he gets the middle of nowhere part. He expected as much.

"Northwest France." It seems like geography was never the Kitten's strong point.

"But that's…!" Ryoma gasped. How long was he out?

"The other side of the country?" Fuji grinned.

"I didn't get an opportunity to go shopping. I left some of my old clothes in the walk in. I hope you don't mind."

The exasperated look returned. Mind? The vampire knew that anything of the brunet is better than what Ryoma could ever hope for. Plus, which peasant gets anything but hand me downs?

"Why am I still alive?" He asked instead.

"How much stories have you heard? About us?" Fuji questioned back.

"…Answer the question." Ryoma glared.

Fuji raised his eyebrows for a second. He was amazed by Kitten's boldness, as he was not in a situation to demand. "Saa… who knows?" Fuji smiled.

"What are you going to do with me?"

"What do you want to be done to you?"

Ryoma twitched. Is that vampire going to answer anything? "And if I want to leave?"

"Want all you like, but it's not coming true." Fuji grinned.

Ryoma looked angrily at the vampire. "Are you going to answer _anything_?"

"Saa… you know what I really am, Kitten." The stunning blue eyes stared into rebellious golden ones. "That alone would scratch out any possibility of you leaving this place alive don't you agree?" He smiled in a more sinister way.

That statement didn't faze Ryoma. It is a common statement from a kidnapper. "Are you the noble of Champagne-Ardenne?" Ryoma asked instead. Right now, he needs to gather more information.

"A noble, yes, but not of Champagne-Ardenne. As for where or what rank I am, saa, that would be a surprise _if_ you found out ne?"

Ryoma sighed. Looks like he won't be getting anything more out of this topic. He needed to start planning his getaway. "How many people are here?"

"There are only us," Fuji paused for a second. "…and one other person." He added after some thought.

"A vampire?" That is important question to find out whether the other person is someone to watch out for.

"Something like that."

What the heck does that mean? A question has been troubling Ryoma for the last minute. Could the 'something' be referred to the kind like him? Humans that have been turned into a vampire? He had often heard of stories that the victims of the vampires turn into those hateful creatures in many cases. If it is true, is he a vampire already as well?

"Did you turn me into a…," His throat tightened. He feared to say it.

"A vampire?" Fuji finished for him. A mocking smile played on his lips. "Don't be ridiculous, you don't just turn into one just because some blood was extracted from your body. If it did, then we'll run out of prey. If the humans we bit into turn into vampires, and they bite other humans, then we would have created a cascade effect. The ecological pyramid shows that there will 

always be more humans than vampires, though that does not necessarily translate to all prey and predator relationships."

The boy nodded. His posture relaxed. Fuji said nothing but looked at the boy oddly. Either he just didn't care, or he wasn't puzzled by that lecture at all. He didn't have a commoner's accent and spoke in perfect grammar. 'Impoverished' is not part of a normal farmer's vocabulary. Fuji suspected that he understood the material perfectly as well because normal person would have showed if they didn't. But considering the subject in question was Kitten, he could make an exception.

He is rather unique. Though Kitten initially displayed fear, it had somehow evaporated into exasperation and curiosity to the point that seems as if he had already forgotten all about that night. Kitten also displayed some intelligence in the verbal language. The education would make him been seen as an heir to a noble, but he was wearing peasant's clothes when Fuji found him. Is he an exiled noble or a scholar? Fuji would question later. But right now, Kitten is acting as if he is gathering information to plan for a getaway…

"Nevertheless there is one way a human can turn into a vampire," Kitten lifted up his head in interest, "by drinking our blood."

The boy's nose wrinkled with disgust.

Fuji only smiled.

* * *

Author Notes:

1. The concept of teenager didn't exist until after the baby boom in the 1940s. So people basically went from a child to an adult.

2. Fuji has a late growth spurt okay? XD I've never thought of Fuji as short and I just cannot imagine a short seme. Even if he's short, he's got to be taller than a girl/Ryoma. :Fangirl-screams while getting pelted by Ryoma's tennis balls:

3. I've decided to call Ryoma's much hated noble a Sasabe. I was going to leave him unnamed throughout the series but that wouldn't make sense since Ryoma will refer to him and his past constantly. (now that I think about it, he fits XD)

- It was so difficult to visualize the room from Ryoma's perspective especially when I had to read into 17th century European stuff. But as you could tell, I modernized a lot of the room style and probably got some of the time period mixed up. (Vampires are progressive XDDD)

You got to put your mind into the 17th century era. The modern (vampire) fashion is really strange concept for Ryoma. (though he's more accepting than he should be)

I'm kind of pissed off writing this chapter because this is the deleted chapter three months ago and I'm forced to write more than 2000 words all over again! The worse thing is I've mostly forgotten what I've wrote.

_**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**__I'm doing the 25 minimum for this one as well._

Published:

Revised:


	5. Chestnut

Another update… I'm soo sleepy.

* * *

**Colors of Blood**

Colors of blood are colors of red. Chestnut; Indian red. Foreign.

**Chest-nut** (_ches-nuht)_

–noun

1. any of the several deciduous trees constituting the genus _Castanea,_ of the beech family, having toothed, oblong leaves and bearing edible nuts enclosed in a prickly bur, and including _C. dentata_ (American chestnut), which has been virtually destroyed by the chestnut blight, _C. sativa_ (European chestnut), _C. mollissima_ (Chinese chestnut), and _C. crenata_ (Japanese chestnut).

2. the edible nut of such a tree.

3. the wood of any of these trees.

4. any fruit or tree resembling the chestnut, as the horse chestnut.

5. reddish brown.

6. an old or stale joke, anecdote, etc.

7. the callosity on the inner side of the leg of a horse.

8. a reddish-brown horse having the mane and tail of the same color.

–adjective

10. reddish-brown.

Indian red also known as chestnut, is a medium brownish shade of red. It is named after the red laterite soil found in India. It is thus an earth tone as well as a red. It is composed of naturally occurring iron oxides.

Indian red is not named after Native Americans. However, because of the possible confusion, Crayola changed their crayon color Indian Red to Chestnut.

Other shades of iron oxides include Venetian Red and English Red.

The name Chestnut derives from the color of the skin of a newly released fruit, the "conker", of the common Horse chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum.

**V. Chestnut**

Half of day had passed since that night and Ryoma had found himself once again on the luxurious bed. Much to his embarrassment and protest, the vampire had carried him back on the bed and kindly ordered him to rest after forcing him to swallow some porridge. A kidnapper nursing its victim back to health; he wondered if such thing was normal. 'Probably not,' Ryoma thought with such displeasure.

Ryoma rubbed his eyes sleepily. He yawned as he carefully slid off the bed. Though he could still feel his body aching all over the place, Ryoma was delighted to find that he was able to move relatively well. An amazing improvement, considering he was barely able to move the night before. Normally with that kind of muscle pain, he would have remained immobile for at least a week.

Reaching over to the cheery wood desk next to him, he poured himself a cup of what he hoped was water from a pitcher that the vampire had left. Ryoma took a wary sip; a cool freshness washes down his dried throat. He nearly choked in surprise. It was mint-flavored. He gulped down the contents eagerly.

Vampires are insane, Ryoma concluded.

Only nobles would flavor drinking water. The smiling vampire is treating him above his status. What kind of a kidnapper would leave a dirty, uncivilized, commoner boy in a room that is worth at least a few cargos of grain? Even if he was well-heeled beyond severe, he's insane to stick in a room worth a fortune. The vampire mentioned that this was his sister's old room. Doesn't he fear that Ryoma would ruin it even if monetary value has no meaning to him?

He wouldn't trash it though; not because of fear or spite. He has been living in poverty far too long to do such a thing.

Ryoma cautiously pulled open the thin satin curtain. His eyes snapped firmly shut at the sudden flood of light. He blinked away the brightness and gasped softly at the sight. The view was absolutely gorgeous - as if it came from a beautiful painting. Like the vampire had said, the house was located somewhere high up the mountain and as far as he could tell, completely surrounded by the woods. But he wasn't isolated as he thought either; about three kilometers down, he could see a town by the river and around it, woods cleared for farming.

He stared at the scenery for a minute or so. Though there are human temperaments near their dwellings, it still looked beautiful. Back at Sasabe's, the elevation closely remained nearly constant. To see a view like this; Ryoma remembered on his hunting days that he would--once in a while--climbed to the top of nearby mountain to gaze down on the world. But everything is too silent. A chill crept over his skin. Where are the songs of the birds? Where are the rustling leaves and the cries of wild life? Though it's neither during the morning nor the afternoon, it's too eerie quiet. Like… as if everything were dead.

He shook his head and remembered where he was. He needs to get away. Who knows what's going to happen to him if he doesn't? He fixed his eyes on the town again. The human settlement would be his destination. If he hurried, he'll probably be down there in about two or three hours.

He glanced at the position of the sun. It was high noon. The vampire should be asleep; they are night predators after all. If he wants to get away, he should do it as soon as possible – before the vampire curses him or something.

Ryoma studied the stone walls of the mansion. It was built from large chunks of stone with uneven surfaces. No problem; he could already see a few places he could grasp on to.

Ever since that night, his life had turned upside down. Everything was so new and confusing. He found himself in the world poles apart from his old life and could picture his common sense crumbling away. He doesn't know what to expect nor believe anymore. Vampires aren't as scary as he imagined them to be. Somehow, his fears toward the vampire just… vanished – maybe it's a coping mechanism, Ryoma shrugged. It was either learn to deal with it or have a mental break down.

There is nowhere else to turn to; but he doesn't intend to go back. There is no way in hell he is going back to that Sasabe's just to slave away his life as a servant. The first thing he would do is to get the hell out of this country and as far away from the vampire as possible to the new world he was told of. Maybe he could start a life on his own like he had previously only dreamt about? Perhaps he could make a living using his hunting skills – which is a talent that came naturally to him. He would love to work with the dogs, falcons, and especially horses.

Ryoma was surprised that he never thought of actually leaving the fief. Why didn't he leave? There must be something wrong with his head. But before he starts making plans for himself and questioning his own sanity, he needs to get the heck out of here.

First, he needs a change of clothes and preferably a pair of shoes. He hates having to walk on barefoot. He opened the door into the closet and immediately stopped. The image of himself returned his surprised stare. Glass mirrors from this period were extremely expensive luxuries – the more perfect they are, the scary the price tag. A perfectly flat piece of mirror almost completely covered the wall on the opposite end. Exactly how loaded was the vampire? Ryoma do not even know how much they are worth.

The closet was almost as big as the bedroom itself, but it was rather empty; in fact, Ryoma was sure that he could transfer most of the furniture from the bedroom and fit it inside the closet. The brunet did say it used to be his sister's room. She must have moved out at one point and took her belongings with it. Opening the rosewood shelf, he noticed it contained only a few items: ribbons, fans, hair clips, and much to Ryoma's dismay, some valuable jewelry.

All her clothes were gone, aside from the few dresses hanging in the corner and some items here and there. Ryoma saw that the fashion of those dresses and size seem to be quite a variety, he wondered how she got some of those dresses. Though he could not remember where he had learned it, the smallest dress was in the style of the middle ages. Ryoma could hardly believe it. Vampires do age slower as the stories say. He couldn't identify a few dresses from any period. It was probably like the strange vampire fashion he had seen the brunet wore.

Ryoma looked around for the clothes the vampire had left for him and spotted a pair of boots along with other footwear on the floor. It looks strange, but the quality was nice; in fact, it was hardly worn too. He opened the chest of drawers in the corner and found what he was looking for.

It looks like the strange Vampire fashion didn't change much over the years. He randomly grabbed a shirt and pants and quickly changed into them. Ryoma stared at himself in the mirrors. He felt a little strange, but not bad. It felt easier to move too than the stuff nobles wear. Though he fumbled with it a bit, he also noticed that it was a lot simpler putting on these clothing. '_I guess they're not too bad, maybe._'

He stuffed a piece of bread—which was next to the pitcher of flavored water--in his mouth. Walking over to the window, Ryoma stepped on a pink-cushioned stool. A slight twitch appeared in his eye as he stretched himself to unlock the bolt on the window, which he noticed was double framed. Probably had too much money to blow, he shook his head. Nobles sure like to spend their money around as if it was water, and even water is too pricey for the farmers during the summer.

Once he unlatched the window, Ryoma peered around—head sticking out as the wind gently breezed through his green locks. He sighed at the fresh air and glanced downwards. He grinned. '_Hardly a challenge_.' Placing his foot on the bottom of the window frame, he carefully climbed out of the third floor and hung on to the small dents in between the stones. Climbing this height was nothing to him as he was the modern day Robin Hood of France. He had occasionally sneaked around the Sasabe manor to 'liberate' a thing here and there and given it to the poor. Well, not exactly 'given' since there was always some form of tradeoff involved but the point is he scaled heights often.

But monkeys also falls from trees as he almost lost his footing two-thirds of the way down. Heart beating wildly, he took a deep breath through his nose to calm himself. '_This is what you get for being overconfident __Ryoma._' He looked to the side to see how far he was above the ground, and then he glanced back up to the window. No sign of that brunet. Eyes going back to the ground, he figured that he would not die from this height even if he did fall. Ryoma jumped the last few meters. Freedom at last! Well, at step closer anyways. Ryoma allowed himself to smirk as he patted his hands to get rid of the debris.

He looked around. '_Everything is so much nicer out here,_' Ryoma thought, appreciating the scenery. His eyes narrowed as he noticed just one little thing.

There is no road.

He turned his head around, hoping that there must be a hidden road or path somewhere. While searching, Ryoma truly noticed the place that he was held captive. The house was elegant, not the kind that he expect vampires to live in. From what he heard about the stories from the locals, he was somehow expecting dark thunderclouds rolling through the sky. There were no tombstones, cobwebs, ghosts, and some screaming echoing in the background. Ryoma frowned. In fact, it looked like an ordinary house owned by a filthy rich noble.

He scowled. '_Momoshiro…,_' he growled in his mind. Ryoma wanted to kill Momoshiro for planting all those weird ideas into him. Ryoma knew the teen was just telling him what he heard in his travels, and perhaps elaborated and twisted a bit - but this is poles apart.

He took the bread from his mouth, he cringed a bit at the sogginess that was soaking through thanks to his saliva and ran into the woods. Ryoma quickly brushed it off as he had no time to dwell on food; food was food no matter how it is, as long as it gives him the energy he needs to get away from that vampire—all is fine for him.

He shook his head fervently. Now is not the time to be enjoying the scenery and contemplate on validity of Momoshiro's fairy-tales. He had better leave before he sees the 'other person' the brunet had hinted at. Besides, whatever it is, it should be sleeping right now since he hinted it was 'something like a vampire'. Ryoma dropped the subject and the thoughts of getting away from that vampire…that house and reaching to the city clouded his mind.

From one of the windows, sapphire orbs followed the small form receded into the woods. The owner of those orbs chuckled in amusement.

There was a predatory smile on the brunet's lips.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Footsteps pounded the dirt that was before him. Ryoma panted. A swarm of dizziness was beginning to invade his head. His head was spinning thanks to the lack of oxygen. But he dared not to allow himself to stop for a moment and take a breather. If he stops now, Ryoma isn't too sure if he will ever get up again—at least while the sun is still up. He pushed a branch out of his face. A small grin appeared on his face. He could see the town up ahead. Ryoma could feel his adrenaline pumping at the sight of it. The dizziness, the spinning…it was all gone. Clear. One foot stepped forward.

As he was about to head out, out of nowhere an arm shot out and circled around his waist. He shrieked and made a mad attempt to get away, but his captor was quicker. The vampire circled his other arm around him, successfully trapping Ryoma's hands in between and ensnared the boy in his arms.

Soft chuckling was all that Ryoma could hear. He could feel puffs of warm air behind his ear as his attacker pulled him close. "It's good to see you Kitten, what a surprise." _That voice_ whispered into his ear. What is he doing here? He looked into the sky. There was still bit of time even before the sky becomes orange. The tone got lower. "I didn't expect to find you here. Shouldn't you be _resting_?" He turned Ryoma around so that they would face each other, his arm still wrapped around Ryoma's waist.

When Ryoma felt himself moved around, his eyes widen when he saw the vampire. Shock and a tiny bit of fear was evident in his eyes. The sunlight shone on the brunet's skin and nothing was happening. No smoke was coming out of the skin. Not even a scream—though he highly doubts that his kidnapper would scream of terror, he doesn't seem the type. Overall, there was no effect from the sunlight. Nothing at all. '_Sunlight doesn't work?_' Ryoma thought; he wanted to cry. '_Isn't there anything that can stop a vampire?_'

Ryoma tried to scream for help, but no sound came out of his throat. He tried again, but to no avail. Did he do this? Was he using his Vampire magic? Either way, Ryoma could felt himself entering the world of doom.

"It's so close, yet so far away isn't it?" The vampire taunted. His hand gently grabbing Ryoma's chin and forced him to look at the town before them. Ryoma's lips thinned in anger, he tried not to seethe, as it would not help him in this situation. Fuji leaned close to Ryoma. Their cheeks nearly brushing each other. He placed his chin lightly on Ryoma's right shoulder. "Kitten was the right name for you after all. You climbed down gracefully – like a cat."

Ryoma gritted his teeth and mouthed the curses in every foul word he could think of. The range of vocabulary is quite impressive, considering he got it from a bunch of drunken farmers.

Blue eyes glinted at him, clearly amused rather than offended. Ryoma could not help but feel that something bad is going to happen. Fuji spoke. "You seem to recover enough to come so far. That means you'll be able to stand up to some blood transfusion ne?" Fuji grinned widely. Ryoma could see the teeth and the fangs.

Ryoma squirmed to no avail. He does not want a second repeat of the blood sucking. If it is anything like the first one, Ryoma knows that only time can tell how long before he is able to escape that vampire's clutches.

Fuji let out a soft chuckle as Ryoma squirmed like an animal caught in a hunter's traps. Surely, he doesn't believe that he could escape could he?

Ryoma struggled, but he could not get that blasted arm away from him. As the vampire gets closer to the target, time moved slowly.

Fangs bearing out, the vampire bit down; his hand pulling the back of Ryoma's hair, so it was only the neck that stood out.

Ryoma froze so that the wound would not tear. He felt no pain from the bite. Instead, there was only a feeling of horror running through his body as he felt his life being sucked away.

Vision started to blur. Ryoma could no longer see the face in front of him nor the town that was to the side. He did not realize that he was heavily gasping. He also failed to notice his breathing slowed down. There has to be some sedative in those fangs. He would rather feel the pain, if only to keep himself awake and to keep himself from feeling the sensation of being slowly grained. Ryoma made one last struggle surrendered himself to the darkness.

Fuji steadied the slump body as Ryoma passed out. Hands on Ryoma's waist, Fuji bent his legs a little as he gathered Ryoma bridal style. He walked silently through the woods and back to the manor.

Fuji looked at Ryoma's face. He honestly didn't expect the little kitten to make an attempt to escape so soon, if any at all. His house is in the middle of nowhere. There were no places to go to that were nearby. The nearest town to his place was still pretty far. It was a four-hour hike between there and here.

This boy is rather unique, as all of his captives in his past were too scared to move or even utter a sound from a corner they chose to huddle like a shaking leaf - even when it was in a room with human neighbors next door. The boy even attempted an escape from the middle of nowhere and he would have succeeded had not Fuji intervened. He doesn't have much experience with humans, but he would ask Niou or Inui the next time he sees them.

What made it even more surprising was the route that Kitten had taken. He was smart to choose the window route since he did not know what was in the house. To choose a window route where there was hardly anything to grab onto, it was highly dangerous. Well, for humans at least. But not for him. Sneaking through a property without prior knowledge in an unknown paranormal property is dangerous. Fuji was a bit glad that his Kitten didn't fall down and meet his untimely death. Who else would be his little toy? Fuji was sure he can find someone else, but that would take awhile.

* * *

Author Notes:

Ugh, I'm never doing a chapter like this again. So much description… which is why half way through the story **Sakura Moon**-san took over. If the writing style changed halfway, that's why. A round of applause to her! (Seriously, PM her and thank her) I was even thinking of abandoning FujiRyo when she dragged me back.

Anyway as for FujiRyo vampire fics, I've actually never seen one except the one-shot where an authoress copied the plot to a doujinshi – she deleted it now. As for demon angel fics I noticed I started a trend when I saw quite a few pop up after mine (and I personally was inspired by Fuji.S's fic Un conte des êtres celestrial as stated in ch 1) but are there really any FujiRyo vampire fics? I've seen a lot of pillar pair vampire fics. Are you sure the hype is from **Twilight**? I read the summary and didn't like it.

As for AC, it's either you fans losing interest (honestly when you lose interest authors do too, I swear, all the good fics from before are on hiatus) or there were not enough FujiRyo action in that one. It has the second worst rate to date… and that hasn't happened since ch.2.

Published: 12/08/08

Revised:


	6. Persimmon

Oh boy, finally I have something I can post. Sorry for the long the hiatus, school and procrastination as usual. I agree with with MoonlightExpression and Playgirl Eugine, Prince of Tennis's popularity is declining by day, and the fans have left, and in consequence, so do the authors, and because of lack of good fics readers leave, and then authors get discouraged and they leave, and even more readers…yeah it's a downward spiral from there. (of course there's this variable called 'School' that's part of normal authoresses' updating schedule)

And as part of the self promotion, I also started a PoT game translation fic called Doki Doki Gakuensai no Oujisama, and it basically translates those corny hilarious dating sim games for rabid POT fangirls… that only cheese loving people could stand.

Again, infinite thanks to Sakura Moon, my editor and co-writer :D

* * *

**Colors of Blood**

Colors of blood are colors of red. Persimmon; a shade of red. A medium orange-red.

**Per-sim-mon **(per-**sim**-_uh_ n_)_

––noun

1. any of several trees of the genus _Diospyros,_ esp. _D. virginiana,_ of North America, bearing astringent, plumlike fruit that is sweet and edible when ripe, and _D. kaki,_ of Japan and China, bearing soft, red or orange fruit.

2. the fruit itself.

Persimmon is a color that closely resembles the tint of a very ripe persimmon fruit (Persimmons can only be eaten if they are very ripe because otherwise the flavor is too astringent.) Persimmon can also be described as a medium orange-red. It is very similar to the tints of coral red and vermilion.

In traditional Chinese medicine the fruit regulates ch'i

The raw fruit is used to treat constipation and hemorrhoids, and to stop bleeding.

**VI. Persimmon **

Ryoma groaned and rolled over on his side, an arm dangling off the bed. His face touched the fabric; he noticed that it was silky. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and looked around him.

He groaned.

He was on that expensive bed again. Ryoma pulled himself to sit up, but the dizziness from the lack of blood impaled and forced him to lie down. Ryoma shifted his body slightly. Something felt different. Eyes looking down at himself, he found himself dismayed that the vampire – Fuji was it? - had changed him again. _'What am I? His toy doll?'_ The frown on his face went deeper as he visualized one of the dolls where the girls of his village would often play. He let out a sighed.

Ryoma glanced at the canopy; feeling truly lost. He ran his hands through, feeling the smooth materials sliding against his skin. Then he remembered how he had gotten in this mess again. Ryoma outwardly cursed Momoshiro for making him assumed that vampires would turn to dust under the sunlight.

Ryoma sighed – he was doing that a lot lately. He knew it was unfair and that it wasn't Momoshiro's fault. The whole sunlight thing was widely believed to be the Achilles' heel for vampires in all folktales and rumors. With such a widely accepted belief crushed right before his very eyes, he wondered if there were any truths to these stories at all. Ryoma didn't believe in any of the magical stuff before, but since he became captive of one, he was forced to resort to what little info he could get.

'_Momoshiro…._' Ryoma thought. He wondered if he was worried about his disappearance. Takeshi was the only person he had come to accept as a 'friend' after all.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Flashback, 3 years ago_

A tall lanky boy of 13 years old was walking down the road. There was an air of cheery disposition around him. Takeshi Momoshiro was a son from a prestigious French trader family. They had passed this town in France a few times in a year when they traded goods from to and fro from the New World and England to shipments in the southern port from the Mediterranean— most often with Italy and Asia – and this was the first year of his apprenticeship.

It was early spring in the particular part of the countryside. Tired of looking at numerous numbers, Momoshiro took a break from going over his uncle's accounts. Feeling stuffed up in a small space, he left the guestroom in the Sasabe's--who were important customers in their business. He found himself wandering in the nearby fields.

Whistling a happy tune, Momoshiro glanced around and a small boy with a rifle caught his attention. The boy appeared to be about ten years old and he was carrying a rifle that was too large for him on one shoulder - it was almost his height. A tiny frown was formed on Momoshiro's face. He doesn't recognize him. '_Must be a new face,_' Momoshiro said to himself as he thought he had seen everyone in the town meeting at the manor. He was poorly dressed with two large adult jackrabbits on the other shoulder; he has green tinted hair—which he had never seen that before. Since it stood out, Momoshiro was sure he would have remembered the kid if he did met him before.

"Hey you, over there!" Momoshiro decided to call out to the boy.

The boy turned around. He shifted the jackrabbits as he eyed him distantly. There was an aura of '_what do you want?_' surrounding him.

"Nice hunting!" Momoshiro yelled, hands forming together on each side of his mouth. "Are you helping daddy or did you do all that?"

The boy instantly turned away from him, completely ignoring the enthusiastic teen.

He sweat-dropped. (1) '_Okay, that guy sure is friendly._'

X

It was summer, and Ryoma was finally enjoying a rare blissful afternoon nap when a voice shook him out of his rest.

"Hey, boy!" A loud voice called from below where Ryoma was. The owner of the voice was looking up with his hands covering his eyes to give him some shade away from the glaring sunlight.

Ryoma stirred.

"Boy sleeping in the tree!" The voice called again; deeply intent in making Ryoma respond.

What does Sasabe want now? Ryoma internally groaned eyes still heavy with sleep. He just finished cleaning the rifles this morning. He cracked one eye open to see how the sky was. Ryoma scowled. _It's _not even the afternoon. They should still be out hunting._ 'If it's not Sasabe, then who the hell is it?_' Ryoma looked down.

Down below, Ryoma saw a cheerful teenager waving at him from below. The teenager looked to be 13 or so. Tall guy with short spiky black hair that looked like grass, but cut short. There was a cheerful grin exerted on his face. He looked too friendly for Ryoma's taste. He vaguely remembered seeing the face somewhere, but he couldn't pinpoint when or where exactly.

Rubbing his eyes, Ryoma glared at him. "What?" He asked venomously, annoyed that he was disrupted from the rare afternoon naps that he was allowed to take.

"Do you remember me still?" The boy asked, still cheerful. He didn't pick up on the hint. "We've met in spring!"

"No," Ryoma's response was short and straight to the point.

Momoshiro felt his eye twitched a little bit. "Ahh, well, Are you new here?"

It was challenging to carry conversations with this kid. He thought that little boys should be loud and rambunctious, but the kid above him was anything but that. However, it was good practice for him —engaging people to participate, especially if they were the tough kind of customers. If he wants to become the most successful businessman, he needed to learn how to talk to unreceptive nobles – the boy fitted that description.

"I've lived here my whole life." He said simply.

"Huh? That's weird; I've never seen you before." Momoshiro could have sworn that he had seen the whole town during that meeting. If he saw a green haired boy, he would have remembered it.

"I've never seen _you_ before either." The kid retorted back.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Takeshi Momoshiro; future successful trader of France." He said proudly. "My family dominates the trade routes around here. I'm working with my uncle around these parts for experience." Momoshiro gave a huge grin while holding his right thumb up.

"That's nice…," Ryoma said apathetically. "Can you go away now?"

"Antisocial aren't you?" Again, this Momoshiro guy didn't take the hint. The local children around here learned to ignore him after such remark. Not that they would be friendly to an orphaned child. "How come I've never seen you in the town gatherings?" Momoshiro continued to ask. Ryoma contemplated if he should just go to sleep right now and ignored this pest.

He shrugged, hoping that the sooner he answers the questions the sooner Momoshiro will be gone. "Lived too far away? Don't recall going to one." He answered vaguely, not going much into details as it was not worth his time.

"You talk different from the rest of people here."

Again another shrug from Ryoma, there was nothing for him to reply. Feeling that he could no longer go back to sleep, he swung his feet to change into a sitting position, feet dangled in air. "So do you." Straight to the point as always.

"What's your name, kid?" Momo asked, using the street slang for child.

"Why do you care?"

"Why not? Or do you believe in those tales that witches can curse you after you give them your name?" Momoshiro retorted.

"… It's Ryoma."

"Smith? Tanner? … _Hunter_?" Momoshiro guessed.

"Don't remember." He shrugged and leaned backwards and let go of his hands. Just as Momoshiro yelled in surprise, he did a back flip on landed neatly on the ground in kneeling position.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Momoshiro asked, astonished. It wasn't a tall cherry tree, but the bark Ryoma chose to sleep in had the height of about three meters.

Ryoma pursed his lips together. "I said, I don't remember." He said in a tone full of annoyance.

There was a small sighed as Momoshiro sweat-dropped again. '_This kid is lying._' He thought as he watched Ryoma walked away.

X

That night, Momoshiro helped a footman carry the goods up the servant's stairs. They were mainly items bought by Sasabe, who was a regular customer in his uncle's trade.

"That's the dear, put 'em there." Said Madame Cook, who directed their shipments. "A little something for your 'ard work sirs?"

Monsieur Depaul, the footman, declined.

"I couldn't ma'am." Momoshiro replied politely.

"Just a _leetle_ drink," She winked. "So small in fact that Lord Sasabe will never know it went a-vanished from 'is cellar."

"Ah, but Madame, he will once a drop went a-vanishing day after day." Mr. Depaul said in a placid manner, but sat on the counter to accept his drink. "Come and sit down my good fellow." He directed to Momoshiro, who was used to scenes like this and happily obliged.

"True, true." The woman replied cheerfully as she faced away from them and prepared the gin and water with a lump of sugar each. "But the way my Lor' and the young masters drowns 'em they ain't gonna notice a thing!" She placed two glasses in front of them. "If they did, they just a-going to put the blame on it on each other!"

Momoshiro laughed, "Yes, one of their main purchases is the wine we ship from Italy and Northern France. Pity, nobles waste coins on exotic wines when the local produce is very good. But then again, that's how we traders get the cash flowing."

The three exchanged a hearty laugh. Mr. Paul began in a serious business-like tone, "Say Beth, could you lend me a bottle from the cellar?"

Mrs. Cook's smile instantly dropped. She huffed, placed her hand on her hips. "Have you be'n betting Thomas? That's the third bottle this month, if you can't win against the boy, don't try!"

"But Beth," the footman whined helplessly, "My honor is at stake!"

She snorted as she became unimpressed. "Honor my foot!"

"You don't seem to be the type to gamble sir, and with a boy? Pray tell." Momoshiro asked.

"You may not believe it but Thomas was the best hunter around these parts." Mrs. Cook began for him. "Then along came a boy and he bests this poor hunter in no time." Mrs. Cook informed. The tone that she used was a mixed of wonder, proud and perhaps a bit shock.

'A boy?' Momoshiro thought. The only hunter that he had seen that could possibly be that young was the one whom he had talked to earlier in the day. "Ryoma? The one with the green hair?"

"Aye," Mr. Depaul confirmed mournfully, he was a bit ashamed having to lose to someone who could barely carry a gun. "I've been a-hunting all my life and half a year ago, and he just comes out-a-nowhere, borrows my rifle, and comes back with a fox and a jack rabbit afore the sky glows a-flame."

Mrs. Cook added on to the tale. "And he bets with the boy a bottle of gin every time them going hunting together to see who can hunt more." She nodded as if to assure the statement.

"Does he drink already?" Momoshiro asked, wondering why Ryoma would need all those bottles of wine.

"Lord bless his dear heart, no!" She was dismayed to even imagine Ryoma drinking. Mrs. Cook did not like drinkers for her own husband was a mad drunkard. "Trades 'em off roun' town to the drunken men 'roun' here." She sniffed in disdain.

"I'll beat him Beth, when I shoot one of those deer. Skilled as he is, the boy is too small to bring back a large 'un." Mr. Depaul swung his glass around, to emphasize the point.

"Poor soul," Mrs. Cook sighed. "You gotta let easy on 'im Thomas. Left all alone at his age since his parents are gone… God taught him to hunt and that's all he's got left."

"He's orphaned?" Momoshiro inquired.

"Bless him, he is." Mrs. Cook prayed. "Ever since then he's been living in this manor as an errand boy." She sniffed. "Such a sweet child, to be treated so horribly. You'd know the Sasabes."

"One more thing, the priest doesn' recall ever baptized the boy." Mr. Depaul added out of nowhere, only fueling the mystery of Ryoma. "And he's got a good memory. Memorized the whole damn bible, that man."

"Oh save us!" She cried and burst into tears. Momoshiro grabbed a tissue nearby and gave it to her. She thanked him profoundly and sneezed into it. Hearing the noise, Momoshiro gave a weak grin.

"What did he do before? You said he suddenly popped up, does that mean he moved in here?"

"No no, his family use to farm in the outskirts of this fief. Couldn't come to town meetings because of the sick mother. They just one day disappeared and left the poor lamb all alone – taken by vampires no doubt. And the bastard had the nerve to take what little the boy's got left. But God saved him." Mrs. Cook replied, after calming herself enough that she could answer without releasing emotional bursts.

"What is his last name?" Momoshiro asked, just so he could taunt the boy later.

"You know it Beth?" The footman turned to Mrs. Cook.

The woman shook her head as she sneezed into her handkerchief.

X

Jogging lightly on the road, Ryoma made note of the falling leaves and the shade of brown, orange and yellow that they were turning into. A season has passed since then and Ryoma was on messenger duty. The sounds of hooves pressing against the ground got louder. Coincidentally, catching up from behind was Momoshiro with the caravans, returning from the Fall shipments from Paris.

"Hey Ryoma! Ride with us." Momoshiro called out, his hand gesturing out so that he could pull him inside.

There was no need for Ryoma to think about the offer. He readily accepted it. It meant less time getting there and more free time for him. Ryoma found himself sitting next to Momoshiro. Needing to break away the silence that formed between them, Momoshiro started up a conversation. He hoped that this time, Ryoma was more responsive.

"You work as a messenger?" Momoshiro felt like he had just asked a very obvious question.

"Sometimes," Ryoma moved his shoulders a bit. "They usually make me do whatever's available." There was that lazed tone coming from him.

Momoshiro bit his lips, not sure if he should ask this or not. "I heard your parents passed away. I'm sorry."

Ryoma shrugged uncaringly. He wasn't offended. "It doesn't matter; I don't remember anything about them."

"The villagers think your parents are killed by vampires." Momoshiro continued.

"It's all bogus." Ryoma firmly said, not believing the existence of such fairy-tale creatures.

"Did they run away?"

"I don't know," he tried hard to remember, '_they just disappeared on me one day..._'

"I see," Momoshiro said solemnly. He suddenly brightened up as if he had incurred a bright idea. "But hey, I'll teach you what to do if you ever meet a vampire just in case!"

"You've met one?" Ryoma asked bored. Frankly, he was not interested in anything that has to do with something that was imagery.

"Not yet, but I've heard plenty in my travels! H-HEY! Don't ignore other people when they're talking!" Momoshiro started to poke Ryoma - anything that would get him to pay attention.

_/ Flashback_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ryoma knitted his brows once the memories had gone away. Taking a deep breath, he rolled off the side of the bed and walked into the closet to use the mirror. Eyes glanced at the spot where the vampire had bitten on his neck. There was nothing. No trace. Maybe he was a bit pale due to the loss of blood, but that perception could be purely psychological.

He pulled a clean shirt over his head.

After that, he folded the pajamas neatly. He never used to do that, he mused. One, because he hated to see beautiful things ruined and another because he had the habit of caring for his own things beaten in to him at the Sasabe's. It was either care for your own things or starved as punishment. Of course, he had other methods of acquiring those foods, but why waste opportunities for food when the price was so trifle in comparison?

He looked at his own reflection. It has been made clear to him that simply escaping would not do. If the vampire does not have vulnerability of sunlight, then he will find another. He must not be the only one that survived the clutches of vampires in all the history. So out of the numerous that has been passed around, there must be at least one that worked.

Ryoma smirked to himself. Determination burned in his eyes as he slowly pushed opened the door outside of the well-designed room

If there is a weakness, he will find it.

* * *

Author Notes:

1. I invent this verb until I can find a better replacement. The other emotions are too complicated to write. Ps. I should trademark this

I managed to churn out another chapter again. I reread my past chapters and it's _sooo tedious._ O.o God, I suck. Maybe partly because it's the 100th time I read it already? Though I'm forgetting the details by the minute…

I'm really unhappy with the crappy dialect. Who knew switching dialect was so hard? I basically studied a bit on the dialect in Oliver Twist. Hardly French, but I wanted a different dialect… and abandoned it halfway. Whatever, it's AU, it doesn't have to be perfect… it doesn't have to be perfect… mumble mumble… If I had the skills I would do Shakespearian but I hate Shakespeare, don't understand a word it's trying to say (it has deep structure at any rate). I wanted to fix it but in any case I've decided to move on and work on the next chapter.

After I noted that there were no other FujiRyo vampire fic besides mine, more are popping up left and right. Well good for you! I read some of them and it's very different from mine. It's good to see that you guys have a lot of creativity left.

Published: 23/10/08

Revised: 29/06/09 (Special A/N: AC and CB will be coming back soon!)


	7. End Notes

Sorry guys. I will never update this again. When I look back into it my writings are crap, plus, PoT is not that popular anymore.

I hope this compensates a little.

Firey

* * *

**Vampire Colors Trilogy - notes **

This is a note I gave to my coauthor, I know I won't touch it again, and pot being dead, I doubt anyone else will… 

Colors of Blood is actually intended to be a trilogy. (I never dared to tell anyone else but my editor because I had a high suspicion that I would never finish it…) You don't have to do it like that, and just end it with CoB and leave the questions hanging but if you want to finish the entire set… well good luck.

As all my fics, I did not really have a complete plan when I started out and it sort of builds as I let my imagination make its own world. The first two chapters were actually not planned, just the chase, and it just basically built on that.

The setting is 17th century France… with a lot of inconsistency. (I'm not a history or geography major! T.T)

Vampires are set to be more modern, because we are familiar with our lifestyle XD. You should do some background reading too, for old Europe and their cultures.

**The setting is very much shrouded in secrets and it will get clearer as it go**. I debated whether to reveal the whole thing now but since you are taking over as the main writer, (and you may want to share this with your beta) but I'll give you everything to avoid possible inconsistency.

Since ch 5, it kind of gotten messy because it was my other ex-editor who filled for me and I didn't give as a detailed plan to her as this one. Write down any questions you have once you read through the entire thing once ^^

* * *

**Basic story sequence**

Colors of Blood 

(color theme red)

The first installment is where Ryoma learns to accept Fuji. And reviewing of the theme 'good and evil', convincing him that vampires are not necessarily evil. Readers and Ryoma will only get hints for the big picture. In the end Ryoma decides to stay.

Characters for this stage; Fuji, Ryoma, Darkmoon (horse)

DarkmoonGets more use to livingRyoma escapes again - attacked by a vampire - saved by Fuji (after putting up a fight) - decides to stay.

Colors of His Eyes 

(tentative title; color theme blue)

(Two years later)

At this stage, Ryoma is firmly attached to Fuji (not yet romantic) but he has no background of Fuji, vampires, or himself. He will learn more about Vampires, and slightly about hunters in this installment. He learns he indeed is a hunter's child by the end (but only got a hint that he is special). He does not recover his memories yet. In the climax, Ryoma confronts the murderer of his parents (or rather, he comes hunting for Ryoma), kills him, but in return he suffers a mortal wound. Fuji makes the decision to give Ryoma his blood, therefore turning him into a vampire.

Tezuka's first appearance. (first chapter)Inui, & summon A chapter where Ryoma appears as Fuji's 'bodyguard'(Ryoma has to cross dress to protect Fuji from a rage of females XD … with the promise of a horse) + SasabeRyoma's horse (Yakult, Pocari, Ramune? Named after Japanese soft drinks? XD) Snow or chestnut, your pick (but not black, since Darkmoon is black)Fuji's main houseOther vampires appear.

o Issue of purebloods

o Fuji + Yuuta (their past)

o Ryuuzaki

o Ryoma

Ryoma turned. (climax)

Colors of Holiness 

(tentative title; color theme yellow)

(ten or more years after Blue)

The timeline of this story is not consistent and could jump all over the place… to a degree. The beginning is when Ryoma gets caught, and the end is when he escapes (secretly freed). In-between is where many parts are covered. The theme of good and evil will be a key element in this story as well, with Ryoga and the hunters bent on thinking all vampires are evil. Themselves not knowing the corruption that occurs in the church nor the history of their own origin. The entire background of this story must be covered. In the end, Tezuka and Ryoga free Ryoma.

Ryoma captured by the hunters, one of them being his elder half-brother, Ryoga.

Various stages of flashbacks and out of order story sequence that jumps to and fro present and past:

Ryoma locked up. Will recover his memory of his childhood. Declines to stay in church, despite Ryoga's , at that time will attempt to recover Ryoma from the hunter society. (hunting for information.)The corruption in the hunter's society will be origin of hunters and church knows about Ryoma and wants to exploit himVarious flashbacks of the last ten years;

o Fuji teaches Ryoma about being a vampire

o They are officially 'paired'

o Stigma follows Ryoma for being previously 'human'

o Hunters (Ryoga and Tezuka) searching for Ryoma

o Meets Momoshiro again. Ryoma frozen in time, while Momo is grown up.

o (Tentative: Kintarou as a werewolf?)

Ryoga sets Ryoma free.

Epilogue: In the modern days, or several hundred years later in an AU setting. (My really light idea is Fuji's fascinations for cameras. And Ryoma is the unwilling victim. It is his true hobby after all.) You could talk about the church's diminishing in power (since that issue was not solved within the storyline)

* * *

**Timeline**

17th century France. Based on Ryoma's age

9 years old. Echizen family attacked.

12-13 Colors of Blood

15-16 Blue (at 16, Ryoma stops aging)

26 (or older) + Gold

* * *

**Background **

Races

Race is a key element in this fic as well as AC.

**Vampires**

Vampires, are blood suckers, but in reality, they don't need to eat, they could draw whatever energy they need from the environment. Food and blood do not nurture them and they consume them only for the taste or amusement. (but Blood is their preferred food since they ARE vampires) They are extremely beautiful, powerful, and intelligent creatures, especially the purebloods, and they naturally attract preys and the like. The purebloods stand on top of the vampire hierarchy, with the Yukimura family on top. There are magicks and secrets that are only passed on to the pureblood family.

Vampires do not possess any fatal weakness such as from garlic, sunlight, or fire and the like and cannot die naturally (immortal). They could die if their head is cut off from the body or their heart is damaged beyond repair. The only weakness they have is from hunter magick, whose weapons and spells are meant specially to take out Vampires.

Vampires, in this story, are descendants of Elves. Elves and humans use to exist in the long past, with elves dominating the woods. Many humans do not know about elves since they live deep in the woods and do not like to be seen. They are beautiful, graceful, and intelligent, and non-violent. They are very much connected to the environment; with plants and animals. But as humans abused the earth with their greed; cutting down woods for resources and captivating animals for their own purposes, the elves were heavily affected and many died to illness, loss of sanity (hearing the screams of woods etc). The humans are able to reproduce at a rapid rate (like rabbits, and their population exponentially multiplied) but elves (and vampires) could only rarely have offspring.

As the elvish population dwindled, a mutation in their race, the vampires, who are rejected by nature started to increase via natural selection (since it is a mutation, pureblood families are rare). They prey only on humans because of their ancient hatred for them for destroying their race. But they could breed with humans to give birth to mixed blood vampires. Mixed blood vampires are much inferior to purebloods in terms of their ability. Humans who drink vampire blood is inferior to mixed blood child. The more pure the blood they drank (amount wise as well), the more powerful they are.

They are feared by nature because they are almost completely different from the old elvish race they knew and they are independent of nature in terms of survival.

Note that some animals could mutate as well by drinking vampire blood. Darkmoon, for example is a pure vampire horse. His ancestors were elvish horses.

Vampires read and write in elvish, as well as other languages. Only the purebloods know what they refer to as the Old Tongue, which is a form of elvish used by upper elves.

Their culture is dark and heavy gothic like, with elvish and modern elements mixed (Elvish is more celtic like? Refer to Lord of the Rings XD). Fuji is an exception with modern and elvish lifestyle. He prefers brighter, lighter decorations for his manor.

Purebloods are to marry purebloods to make sure the future generation stays pure and the power preserved. Recent generations are not gender balanced (lmao, blame PoT), you could mention about that too.

Ryuuzaki, the only bachelorette pureblood was rejected by Atobe and Syuusuke. Despite being a pureblood, she has a mice-like personality. Because of the desire to pass down power, in this series, Yumiko and Yukimura have to be together. You could pair Ryuuzaki with Yuuta if you want to (mention it extremely subtly in Gold?), or not.

The council is especially interested in passing down older Fuji's abilities since he is much powerful of the two brothers (Although that is not voiced, it is common knowledge). Ryoma, before he recognizes his own feelings, is pissed. (Gold) The council frowns that Fuji chose Ryoma, who is male and non-vampire origin (the elvish blood makes up a bit). Insists that Syuusuke takes Sakuno (Ryoma not happy). Fuji smiles in a special way that makes them gulp. He declares that as long as both of them stay alive, there is no need for procreation.

Lovers of pureblood could get near pure if they constantly drank their blood. Ryoma eventually gets almost as powerful as pureblood but due to his lack of knowledge of the powers, it will be much later before he could control it well.

**Hunters**

Hunters are the only existing race that could conflict with vampires. They are not normal humans to be able to take down vampires. Their ancestors are Witches and wizards whose ancestors learned the elvish ways by befriending them in the long past and were blessed with their abilities. Their magic deviated from the elvish ones after generations. They strived to make their abilities more powerful. Since they are generally more powerful and strange to the general human population, they were feared and eventually tried to round them up and kill them. (So in the end, the witches prosecution hinted in ch1 actually occurred) Most were murdered by the people. However, unbeknown to the public, the church kept some of their young children and bred them as hunters to combat the vampires. All hunters were taught the catholic religion, and imprinted into them their life purpose to exterminate 'evil' and do 'justice'. The theme of human morals, the effect of education (nurture), should definitively be explored in this fic.

They are cursed on their 10th birthday by burning a tattoo, a curse, the shape of a cross on their backs. Most think this is an honor to serve 'God' their entire life since they were the 'chosen children of God'. This prevents them from running away, consuming Vampire blood (and vice versa), silences them on confidential information, and could be killed at will by the church. The entire hunter population is in the hands of the church and many hunters obey them without a second thought.

Hunters do not fully know elvish, though they have been attempting to decode it for the longest time therefore can use a little. The Old Tongue is unknown to them. But they have their own codes and language they use for communication (the church knows them too).

They lead a life that is a cross between church members and real hunter.

**Humans**

Humans are generally ignorant of the existence of any humanoids beside themselves. Refer to our own history for their cultures and behaviors. Much of their life is ruled by the king and the church. Back then, they didn't have anything but the bible. You know how thick minded believers are.

**Esa (JP translation for feed)**

Tentative name. They are humans cursed by vampires to do their biddings. They are marked by a symbol on their neck (I'm thinking of a three vine spiral) and that is passed on to their offspring. The only function it has is that it silences them from releasing information (since vampires are powerful enough, they don't need other abilities on the tattoo to bind these humans). Many, especially their later generations, serve them willingly. They are few that runaway from their jobs but vampires are usually too lazy/ arrogant to chase after them when they could look for more.

The special ones are marked with a permanent bite mark on their neck and a tattoo. The bite marks that he personally belongs to a master (for whatever the master wants to do with them) and is hands off for other vampires. The bitten ones are more socially powerful and important than 'just a servant'. (It is really tempting to, and it culturally fits but I don't want to bring in anything explicitly sexual with this sort of slave-master relations)

(Ryoma will be bitten in the end of part 1 (but no tattoo) – and is unhappy about it)

**Werewolf**

I actually haven't thought of anything for this yet, and I don't want to make another race tangled into this mess. I just thought that Kintarou, if I use him, has to be a werewolf because he is so wild XD

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**Character placing**

Note that the given name is placed first, unlike AC, since it is set in Europe. By no means, is this list complete, but note that too many characters will lessen the focus on Fuji and Ryoma

NAMING!

In AC, it's done the Japanese (Asian) way with naming. When mentioning a full name, the family name comes before the given name (ie. Echizen Ryoma). Since in COB it's set in France, it's done the European way (Ryoma Echizen).

Vampires

Syuusuke Fuji (red for purebloods)

Yuuta

Yumiko

Yukimura (leader)

Ryuuzaki Sakuno

Atobe

Niou

Yanagi

Marui

Akaya

Inui

Kikumaru

Yuushi

Akutsu (The evil in this story)

Hunters

Tezuka (childhood friend of Echizens)

Ryoga

Sanada

Shiraishi (bible addict, duh! XD)

Ooishi

Tachibana

Sengoku

Mizuki (dead)

Shinji/ Akira

Echizen Nanjirou

Saeki

Humans

Momo

sasabe

Esa

? The trio, Tomoka (Ryuuzaki's servant), Kaidou, Kawamura

Werewolf

Kintarou

Elvish

Ryoma (part)

Rinko

**Character profiles**

Incorporate it into the fic later? XD To get an idea of their personalities, backgrounds, and what's going to happen and whatnot. Just trying to keep them in character with the original is fine. Don't try to pair anyone else except for the main FujiRyo (I've included a bit of YukimuraxYumiko for both but whatever XD). Probably only important characters are covered. Has similarities (personality wise) with AC.

Ryoma

The main character. Ryoma is part elvish. Although he is only part elvish, the old blood in him mixed very well with Fuji's blood, (and combination of Hunter's blood from his father's side) magnifying his power. In the end, makes him almost as powerful as purebloods.

Love of animals, partially due to his elvish blood

Rinko

She is the last of the original elvish race. She was hidden deep in the woods so her family survived. Killed

Nanjirou

The ace hunter

Ryoga

Son of Nanjirou's first wife and Ryoma's half brother.

Syuusuke

An oddity among vampires. Powerful. Oddly, a morning vampire.

Saeki

(The more sensible of the bunch. Knows of corruption but powerless to stop it. Remains silent)

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**Chapter Outline**

1. Fuchsia The chase

2. Sangria The chase II

3. Burgundy Dream sequence

4. Vermilion House of a noble

5. Chestnut First run

6. Persimmon Flashback: Momoshiro. New determination

(Ch7 survived the reboot but everything else has been lost.

7. Orange Red Is the only partly written one. see the other attachment

I usually decide on the color of each chapter after it is written. Each color technically has a meaning but I'm no colorist, so I'll have to make do with Wikipedia ^^. I'm hoping that it won't span for too long, or else I'll run out.

**

* * *

Snippets The Mizuki incident**

50 years ago, (or longer) Mizuki is a skilled hunter.

Manipulated the fact that Yuuta was weaker than Syuusuke, and rubbed in Yuuta's disgrace as a pureblood and his restrictions living as one. He tried to trick Yuuta into submitting to the church, reveal secrets "You could be stronger…" Mizuki would bait him.

Before anything dangerous could happen, the ploy was discovered by the older Fuji. He made an example out of Mizuki (who will be remembered in history to not mess with a pureblood) and severely impaled the hunter population. He killed all those related to the incident, made no exception, and killed more in his anger. He destroyed much of the hunters single handedly and stole much information (aka. Made them pay). The peace treaty was hastily reinforced b/w hunters and vampires.

Syuusuke disappeared by choice, saying that if Yuuta feels he is shadowed by him then he would leave. Only two vampires knew about Fuji's general whereabouts – Yumiko and Yukimura (occasionally keeps in contact). This was a huge relief for the hunters. The incident strengthened the fear for the Fuji family especially.

Fuji spent those times exploring, doing his hobbies. He was summoned at the beginning of Blue. Yuuta regretted his actions and is training and studying to be stronger.

**Ryoma's past**

**CoH (blue) 1st chapter**

Tezuka's POV

Port, southern France.

Spots Darkmoon. Recognizes it as a vampire horse. Sees that the vampire is not nearby. Few men trying to steal the beautiful horse. Sees that Darkmoon is getting ready to retaliate should the men move. Tezuka takes out his gun in case the horse kills the men. Just as the horse got on his hind legs and neighed, sees a boy, 15 years old jump in front of the horse to calm it down. Wearing noble ranked clothes, still human. Extremely surprised that a vampire horse calmed under the human's touch. Ryoma called 'Darkmoon' which Tezuka recognize as Fuji's. The boy turns to glare condescendingly at the men, the men insults him saying that a kid like him cannot possibly own such stallion. The boy (or teen now?) is unmoved. Green tined hair, sharp golden eyes, challenging attitude… reminds Tezuka of his 'dead' friend.

After the men leaves, an old shop owner (the one Ryoma came out from) and they have brief conversation. The old man calls the boy Francis (a fake name).

Ryoma leaves and Tezuka follows to a place where they are alone. Tezuka stops Ryoma from leaving by pointing the gun at Darkmoon. Ryoma initially surprised, is not amused.

Tezuka demands about Fuji. Ryoma, curious for information, they begin to talk, weary of one another.

Ryoma never met any vampire of noble family except Fuji. Here is where pureblood is first mentioned. Of course, Ryoma knows nothing.

Tezuka learns that although Ryoma is not silenced, he isn't told much about anything. Tezuka offers Ryoma help, so he could be freed. (Although Tezuka thinks he should not mess with Fuji's property, the boy reminds him his dear friend.) Ryoma declines, says it's too late, and if the offer had made earlier he would have taken it.

Just as Ryoma leaves on Darkmoon, Tezuka calls him Francis. Ryoma tells him his real name and left before Tezuka could react and stop him.

**CoH (blue) 2nd chapter**

Inui enters Fuji manor with a summon. Fuji reads the summon from Yukimura. Inui mentions that he has been running away long enough, and it is time to go back to the society. Fuji inclines. Inui senses a human approaching.

Inui shocked that Darkmoon, who doesn't obey anyone but Fuji is ridden by a human. Inui inquires about Ryoma, with a calculating look. Fuji only smiles.

Ryoma enters, weary of Inui. Inui leaves.

Ryoma thrusts a package at Fuji, complains that Fuji made him go across France for a tube of paint (vermillion).

Ryoma inquires about vampires. Fuji sharply notices that Ryoma is suddenly asking about a lot. He admits that he met a hunter. Fuji is extremely vague about his answers, if he answered at all. Ryoma frowns. In the end, Fuji tells Ryoma to see for himself.

**Ch3 and beyondThe end?**

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Dies…

That's it? Probably? Sometimes the notes make sense to me but not to you. Just resend this document back with notes/ comments etc and I'll find it using the compare function. If there is anything else, I can't remember any more… or didn't write it.

Firey


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